The Color Challenge
by finnstardust
Summary: John wonders why Elizabeth always wears red and challenges her.


This was written for the Sheppard/Weir ficathon at LJ, requesting humour and romance - I hope it has both!

Spoilers: Nothing past Intruder

Summary: "Why do you always wear red?"

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the story idea. It's depressing, really.

* * *

He can't get over how green her eyes are.

He's seen them shooting daggers at him when he's done something to piss her off. He's seen them full of warmth and relief when he returns from a particularly risky mission. He has to admit he'd give anything to see more of the latter, but he'd prefer if it wasn't always after he'd first made her worried.

Right now her eyes are twinkling at him over the rim of her coffee mug and he can't quite read what she's thinking. They're in the mess hall of Atlantis, the first evening after returning from Earth on board the Daedalus and he is glad they've taken up this habit to meet for a drink after the day is over.

Elizabeth curls her long slim fingers around the mug and leans back in her chair.

"I have a feeling you have something on your mind, John."

He flashes her a grin. "What makes you think that?"

She shrugs. "You've been unnaturally quiet all evening. I agree it's been rather uneventful ever since we got back but there must be something we can talk about."

John takes a sip of his drink. "Aren't you happy there isn't?"

She narrows her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He hurries to explain himself. "I didn't mean I don't want to talk to you, just that…well, before the Wraith arrived, we spent most of our time strategising. Talking about…other things wasn't exactly high on the agenda... but now without any imminent danger in the horizon…"

He frowns, realizing he's making no sense whatsoever. Her lips curve in a way which tells him she knows this too.

"Yes, John, I'm happy things are calmer now. But I want you to feel able to talk to me about things that are not work-related."

"I am. I do, right?"

She thinks for a moment. "No, not so much actually."

"Oh."

She watches him for a moment, playing with the mug. "So what's on your mind?"

Her eyes are warm but curious and for a moment he feels like she can see through him and find out exactly what he is thinking about and he suddenly wants to run from the mess hall, which feels much smaller than it did five minutes ago. He's never been big on talking about personal things and she knows it. She's never asked him why he didn't want to send a personal message to Earth when they had the chance a while back but he suspects she's formed several theories about it in her head. One of which is probably the correct one.

To escape the uncomfortable situation, he blurts out the first question that crosses his mind.

"Why do you always wear red?"

Elizabeth's eyebrows meet her hairline and her mouth all but drops open. "Excuse me?"

He vaguely motions to the direction of her red t-shirt, the one he's seen on her about ninety-percent of the time he's known her. "I was just wondering…it seems to be your favourite colour."

She stares into her mug. "Not really. It's just something I associate with…leadership, I guess. I feel comfortable in it. And I didn't actually have the space to bring a huge selection of clothes with me."

"Not a huge selection but a selection anyway?" He gives her a grin again and she rolls her eyes.

"What's this about, John? I didn't know you have any fashion sense whatsoever."

He pretends to look insulted. "I'm just curious about what you'd look like in black, or green, or blue maybe…"

She interrupts his musings with a sharp lift of eyebrow. "John."

"Hey, I'll challenge you," he ignores her. "I challenge you to wear a different colour shirt every day for the next seven days."

Her lips curl into a smile and he can tell she's tossing the challenge back and forth in her head. "Just a different colour shirt? I can stick to the pants?"

"Yes. But no borrowing clothes from anyone."

"I don't know, John." She leans forward to place her mug on the table. "I'm not sure all my shirts are…suitable for daytime duty."

John narrows his eyes as all sort of images flash through his mind and he wonders what exactly she is hiding in her closet.

"Now that's something I really want to see."

He gives her a smug grin which clearly annoys her and for a moment John's sure he'll be stuck cleaning toilets for the next ten years.

"Fine. I'll do it." She glares at him defiantly. "What do I get if I manage it?"

John leans closer over the table. "Whatever you want."

The ball is in her court now and he has no idea what she's going to do with it.

"If I win, you tell me what there is to know about John Sheppard."

He swallows and for a moment shock is clearly readable on his face. "Elizabeth…"

"Anything that's personal, John. I don't know much anything about you outside of work."

For a moment he wants to withdraw this challenge, knowing how difficult for him it is to talk about his personal history. But there's no going back now.

"All right. But I warn you - not all of it is going to be pretty."

"I'll take that risk." She extends her arm across the table to shake his hand. "We have a bet?"

John's fingers clasp hers tightly. "We have a bet. What are you prepared to give me if I win?"

Elizabeth shrugs. "I play fair. Whatever you want."

* * *

The first day of their bet is Monday and Elizabeth shows up for breakfast in a dark green, long-sleeved shirt that matches her eyes and makes her look irresistibly pretty.

Rodney is too engrossed in his latest scientific invention to pay her much attention while Teyla probably finds it impolite to comment on the sudden change in the expedition leader's style. That doesn't stop John from staring at her during the morning briefing and thinking about how much greener the shirt makes her eyes look.

She shoots him a playful look as people file out of the room.

"I believe I won this round, Colonel?"

He tears his eyes away from hers, chuckling. "It's only the beginning, Doctor."

* * *

Day two and Elizabeth sits in meetings all day with the scientists, clad in a white t-shirt he remembers seeing once before. It's not one of his favourites and he can tell she's uncomfortable as well, by midday pulling on her jacket.

"I hate this shirt, John," she mutters to him accusingly when they meet for a coffee at the balcony outside her office. "It makes me look dead."

He takes a close look and notices she looks paler than normal, slightly older than he knows she is. "It does bring a slight…Wraith-like quality to your skin."

He escapes inside before she can throw the scalding liquid on him.

* * *

On Wednesday she turns heads wearing a black t-shirt with the text "Hot Stuff" on it. That's enough to get even Rodney nearly choking in his coffee and stuttering muffled curses while Teyla strongly pats him on the back. After recovering, he declares Elizabeth has lost her mind and storms off to his lab. Seeing the redness of Elizabeth's cheeks, John starts feeling bad at ever initiating this bet but then she lifts her head, looking around her boldly, and he feels an immense surge of pride towards her. Later, though, he overhears her trying to explain her attire to one of the scientists: she has run out of any other clean shirts to wear.

"Well, well," he smiles, walking into her office that evening. "I see what you meant about some of your shirts possibly not being fit for duty wear."

She chuckles, shaking her head slightly. "I do have to say wearing this one took quite a lot of nerve. I think everyone has lost any respect they had towards me by now."

John takes a seat opposite her. "I think it's quite the opposite, really. Any woman wearing a shirt like that deserves a lot of respect."

"And I'm still winning," she reminds him, closing the lid of her laptop computer. "Just a few more days and I'll learn a lot more about my military commander."

"We'll see," he tells her quietly, not breaking eye contact. "We'll see."

* * *

On day four she brings out the big guns. He has seen the low-cut sleeveless light blue top before but most of the others haven't. Her bare shoulders and the tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage draws a lot of looks from the male population of Atlantis and for a moment John experiences a strong bang of jealousy. It's just a fleeting occurrence, and he pushes it out of his mind before it has the chance to develop into anything else.

He scowls at one of the younger scientists, who is practically dropping his eyes as she leans down next to him to check something on the computer screen, and tries to ignore the nagging little voice in his head that tells him he'd like to see her in much less than what she has on now.

Teyla walks to stand next to him in the control room. "Colonel Sheppard, is everything all right with Dr. Weir?"

John shoots her a look. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"She seems to have changed her clothing a lot lately."

He shrugs, feigning innocence. "Problems with laundry?"

He can see she doesn't believe him for one moment but the Athosian woman is too polite to start arguing with her team leader and bows out of the conversation. John scratches his head and realizes Elizabeth is watching him from the other end of the room.

"Problems, Colonel?"

"No. No problems whatsoever." He gives her a bright smile and tries very hard to keep his eyes from falling to the swell of her breasts beneath the light blue fabric. And she's on to him, of course, leaning forward just enough to reveal a little bit more and he can't take it anymore, quickly leaving the control room in search of some other activity.

* * *

She looks cute enough to eat in baby pink.

At least this one is a t-shirt, and covers a lot more than the top on the day before, but it's also very feminine and soft. John's away for most of the day on a mission but even on another planet, he can't quite get the image of her out of his head. He's sure it shows as carelessness and Teyla and Rodney give him annoyed looks; she all but slaps him after they get attacked and she pushes him out of the harm's way just in time. He's not proud of himself at all for letting a woman get into his head like this, to the point where it affects the safety of his team and vows it will stop immediately after the week is over and Elizabeth can return to the safe red shirts. Although he's not sure if he can ever look at her and see her as just a leader and a friend anymore.

Back at Atlantis, he's sulky and avoidant and he can feel her eyes on him more than a few times during the mission briefing where Rodney does most of the talking. Naturally she asks him to stay after the others leave and he finds it hard to look at her face, the huge green eyes and soft curls of her hair and the impossibly cute pink t-shirt. Cute is not the word he'd normally associate with Elizabeth Weir and for a moment he wonders about his sanity.

"What's the matter, John? Did something happen on the planet?"

He crosses his arms defensively. "Nothing that wasn't covered in the briefing."

She sits on the edge of her desk. "Is this…bet bothering you?"

He finally looks at her properly. "Why would it be?"

"Because if I win you have to tell me about yourself?"

He looks uncomfortable enough for her to look away. "John, if you really don't want to, I'm not going to force you. Maybe it wasn't fair of me to demand so much."

John's eyes narrow and he takes a step closer. "We made a deal, Elizabeth. I'm sticking to it. It doesn't bother me."

She looks back at him, holding his gaze for a long time before nodding. "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure." Her eyes search his face and damn if he can't look away. His mind flashes back to the months gone by, to the bond slowly but surely deepening between them, from instant trust to deep friendship, from lingering looks and touches to the hug she had given him after he escaped the suicide mission. He doesn't really know what's going on between them but he knows there's something. He knows he's desperately attracted to her and is reasonably sure she knows it too. He doesn't know what she is or isn't feeling and being in the dark like that scares him out of his wits.

Her voice is a broken whisper and brings him back to the present moment. "John…"

He could kiss her so easily right now. His gaze shifts to her lips and he sees her swallow. All it requires is a slight movement forward…

"Elizabeth? I found something really interesting…"

Rodney is back and John jerks his head back just before his lips touch hers, in his mind cursing the scientist with all possible words he can think of right now. Elizabeth closes her eyes for a moment, regaining her composure and he steps away from her.

Rodney looks up from his papers. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes."

"No."

They speak simultaneously and Rodney looks on with interest. Elizabeth shoots John a look, her jaw twitching in annoyance. "No, Rodney, go ahead. What did you want to tell me?"

"If I'm not needed right now, I think I'll try to get some sleep." John thinks his voice sounds weird to his own ears but apparently not to Elizabeth and Rodney's.

"Of course. See you in the morning, Colonel."

He glares at her, letting her know exactly what he thinks of being called by his rank and practically slams the door of her office shut behind him.

* * *

It's Saturday morning and John is fairly sure he's going to lose the bet.

Elizabeth is checking reports in her office, wearing a grey shirt that covers every inch of her. It's long-sleeved and high-necked and he hates it.

After what happened last night he isn't at all sure she'll want to speak to him, ever again, or even see him, but he walks into her office anyway.

"Good morning."

She looks up quickly, her face softening into a smile. "Morning."

He sighs. "You're still winning."

She lowers the report to the desk. "Well, if it's any help, I couldn't have continued for much longer. Not many shirts left."

"Hey, hey, there's still tomorrow,"he reminds her and she smiles.

"Of course."

For a moment he's silent until it turns uncomfortable. "Listen, about yesterday…"

Elizabeth holds her hands up. "It's all right. We all have bad days."

He frowns. "I wasn't talking about that."

She looks confused. "What then?"

"You've forgotten already? If Rodney hadn't come in..."

From the look on her face he knows she hasn't forgotten. "Well, he did come in."

John shakes his head a little. "So that's it? I almost kissed you and we'll just forget about it?"

She looks annoyed. "John, I can't…"

An announcement on the speaker system interrupts them. "Dr. Weir to the infirmary. Dr. Weir to the infirmary."

Elizabeth sighs and gets up. "Excuse me."

"Elizabeth, we have to talk about this."

"Later, John." She's already at the door. "I have to go."

She avoids him for the rest of the day and he vents his frustrations in a sparring match with Teyla, afterwards collapsing in his quarters, exhausted, staring at the roof. A few moments later, dragging his aching body into the shower, he vows to get her out of his system, once and for all. He doesn't know how he'll do that but he's going to do it.

* * *

At 5.15 Sunday morning the city alarm goes off.

John rushes to the control room, rubbing sleep from his eyes and looking at the activated Stargate.

"What's going on?"

"Unscheduled off-world activation," one of the technicians explains to him and he runs down the stairs, grabbing a weapon from one of the guards, ready to shoot at whatever comes through. He passes Elizabeth on the way down but doesn't stop, hearing her voice ordering the gate to be shut down.

The gate remains active but nothing comes through.

"What the Hell is going on?"

"Shut it down," Elizabeth orders again but the technician shakes his head.

"It doesn't respond…"

"Just keep trying!"

"Yes, ma'am." The man slams his hand on the control console again and the gate shuts down.

"Okay, that was unexpected."

John lowers his gun and slowly backs off from the gate. "What was that?"

"No idea, Colonel." The technician shakes his head.

Teyla joins him and they walk back to the control room. John rubs his neck - it's still stiff after their sparring session the day before and he really wants to go back to bed.

"I see Dr. Weir has chosen to put an end to her clothing experimentation," Teyla comments nonchalantly and it takes a moment for her words to sink in.

Elizabeth has her back to them. A t-shirt covered back. A RED t-shirt covered back.

A smile spreads to his lips. "I knew it."

Teyla looks confused. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing, Teyla. Go ahead, I'm sure the situation has passed now."

The young woman gives him a strange look before making her way back to the living quarters. John waits until the scientists around Elizabeth have left before slowly walking over.

"Day seven, Doctor. You lost."

"John, what are you…?"

He really enjoys the look of horror and realization that spreads on her face way too much. Her hand rises slowly to cover her mouth and he's sure she blushes brighter than the shirt she's wearing.

"Oh my God. I completely forgot."

He nods. "I can see that."

"When the alarm went off, I just grabbed the first shirt I could find." She shakes her head. "I can't believe this."

"You know, let's just call it off, okay? It _was_ an emergency - I can't expect you to think about clothes in that situation."

Her eyes flash. "Didn't I say I play fair, John? I lost. No matter what the circumstances."

"Are you sure?"

She nods. "Go on then. What do I have to do?"

He's sure he looks just as dumbfounded as he feels. "Well…to be honest, I hadn't planned anything. It looked certain you'd win and…I'll think about it."

"Very well, John." She gives a slight smile. "Let me know."

* * *

By that evening he still hasn't come up with anything.

Wandering into her office with the hope that seeing her would bring him some ideas, he finds the room empty and Elizabeth standing on the balcony, looking deep in thought.

She straightens as he steps outside. "Oh no."

"I'm finding this surprisingly hard," he tells her, coming to stand next to her and leaning on the railing. It's a beautiful evening; cloudless sky and a warm breeze. To her credit, Elizabeth hasn't changed her shirt. He wasn't sure if he expected her to.

"Come on, John. I'm sure you can find several different ways of making me suffer."

He looks at her, the familiar large green eyes, hair slightly dishevelled like she's been repeatedly pulling her fingers through it. She's beautiful and he tells her so.

She smiles; something he wants to see her do much more. "Thank you."

And suddenly he knows exactly what he wants to do.

"I don't want to make you suffer," he says, gently brushing a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. "I'd never want that."

Her face gets serious all of a sudden and he knows what she's thinking.

"Rodney went to the mainland with Teyla." He slides his hand from her hair to cup her face. "And nobody else comes out here."

John can feel her heartbeat picking up under his thumb and hears her deep, shuddering breath.

"This is all I want for winning, Elizabeth."

Her lips are amazingly soft, full and willing and he can't quite wrap his brain around the fact he's kissing her. Not until he feels her arms around his neck, her gentle fingers in his hair and she steps closer for full body contact. And he's sure she can feel exactly the effect she has on him.

The kiss goes from gentle to needy and passionate in two seconds.

She moans deep from her throat and his brain explodes at the sound, making him pull her even closer until it's impossible to tell where he ends and she begins. He knows he has to put a stop to this before they go too far, overstep the line and end up doing something he wants to do in his bed, not on the cold and hard floor of the balcony.

It takes all his strength to pull his lips from hers and it takes supernatural strength not to go right back when she opens her eyes, huge and luminous and curves her lips into a teasing smile.

"That's all you want, John?"

"Yes, well, not quite."

He takes her hand and pulls her through the door, through the control room, not caring who sees them holding hands, down the stairs and into the living area. He figures his quarters are closer and is amazed he still remembers the way when all his brain is filled with is her.

She's the one to kiss him this time when the door closes behind them and he doesn't object, his fingers finding the hem of her shirt.

"You know, Elizabeth," he says when they break apart for air. "Maybe you should stick to the red shirts after all. They really are quite hot."

She laughs – God how he loves the sound of that – and shuts him up with a kiss while pulling the said piece of clothing over her head.

* * *

Opinions? Feedback is my choice of drug...:)


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